Population act 2578
by embirsiphonelilathia
Summary: Fic adopted from Merlin's Mistress. Hermione's life was starting to settle down, well that was until the ministry decided to step in. Rated M for possible lemons... formerly Laws of Engagement, title changed to avoid confusion.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The plot of the first four chapters will loosely follow the plot line of a story with the same title by Merlin's Mistress. I adopted this story from her well MONTHS ago, and I've finally gotten around to writing it.. I'm pretty pleased with how it's coming around. Now I've changed and revamped the entire story, the only things that really stayed was the pairing, the law and how the initial engagement will come about. Almost everything else is completely different, because well I could never submit anything that I couldn't claim as mostly mine in the first place. :D Enjoy lovelies!

Disclaimer: JKR cannot be found here.

Chapter one

Hermione woke up, rubbing her eyes. She could hear he mother calling from downstairs, demanding that she get her arse downstairs. She swore softly under breath and dragged herself from her bed, fumbling about until she found her wand and a set of clothes. She yelled down the stairs that she was taking a shower and stumbled into the bathroom.

She washed up quickly, scrubbing at her hair before adding a drop of a special potion to her hair. She rinsed herself and pulled a towel around herself. Hermione moved over to the sink and washed her face before flicking her wand to dry her hair. She smiled at the mass of sleek curls that haloed her face. That potion had been a small miracle for her hair, allowing her to keep the curly mass of her hair but toned down the frizz that was caused by the moist air outside. She couldn't have been happier with it.

Slipping into her jeans and t-shirt, she hopped down the hall shoes in hand and she struggled to get the pulled on before she reached the stairs. Calls from her mother only getting louder the more time she took.

"Come on mum! It's my bloody birthday." She grumbled, hoping that she wasn't heard only to flinch when her mother called.

"Language Hermione! I taught you better than that." Her mother met her at the bottom of the steps, hands on her hips and her eyebrow raised slightly. "Now tell me dear how exactly you came to start cussing like a common trollop?" Her mother asked with a small grin.

"That would be the Weasley boys, mum." Hermione replied blandly and made her way to the kitchen, her mother close at her heels.

"Bless them, lovely family but perhaps you've been spending to much time around so many boys. You need some more female friends darling." Hermione wrinkled her nose at the pronouncement causing her mother to laugh as she passed Hermione a plate of food.

Hermione smiled softly down at the plate, her favorite breakfast foods covered the plate and she happily dug in as her mother made up a plate of her own. "Where's daddy gone to?" Hermione asked around a mouthful of eggs.

Her mother rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose as she responded, "He went to pick up a few things from the store, he should be back in just bit, since he left ages before you woke up."

"Mum it's my birthday, I think I'm entitled to sleep in for a little while." Hermione grumbled and took a swig of her juice.

"Yes but you used to have such lovely manners and you never slept in past seven. Now don't get me wrong, the Weasleys are all lovely people, I just think those boys are influencing you far to much." Jane said before pointedly taking a small sip of her coffee.

"Or it could be that I'm out of school and as much as I loved it, I'm allowed to relax for once and not have to worry about time management." Hermione smirked and took a large mouthful of eggs and chewed noisily, laughing as her mother curled her lip. "That and I have no one here to impress with my manners mum, it's not like you really care. Besides I promise not to 'cuss like a common trollop' or eat like a boy when I'm in public, alright?"

Jane gave her a soft smile and laughed, "I suppose that'll have to do."

They sat chatting about nothing at all and enjoyed their food, their laughter ringing out through the kitchen.

HGHGHGHG

And it was this sound that welcomed Harvey Granger home as returned from the store, laden with bags. He set the bags down on the floor and made his way to the kitchen, taking in the sight of his girls chatting away, smiles bright and wide on their faces. Two of the loveliest smiles he'd ever seen, thanks mostly to his dentistry skills. He'd never allowed either of the girls to go to anyone else, disregarding his daughter's sneaky attempts in her fourth year to shorten her front teeth. He rather missed the larger ones, they had made her look unique and different, it was a 'Hermione quirk' and it made him sad that they were slowly disappearing as she grew up, it was signs that she wouldn't be his little girl for to much longer.

"How are my girls doing?" He said watching in delight as they turned to him, happy grins curling their mouths and Hermione stood immediately to give him a hug.

"Daddy! You nearly missed my birthday breakfast!" She scolded him and he patted the top of her head, dropping a kiss on her forehead before he moved to his wife, pecking her lips quickly before he began to load a plate up with breakfast goods.

"Now poppet, theirs no need to get snippy. I had to go grab some things, remember your mum and I are leaving for that convention tomorrow? You were suppose to contact the Weasleys to see if you could stay there."

"But Daddy! I'm 18 now, I can stay home by myself!" Hermione whined.

"Now Darling," His wife said "Your father and I are just worried about leaving you home when the war has only just ended a few months ago. We just want to know that your safe and that you have company."

"Yes Poppet, Strength in numbers." He reminded his daughter with a raise brow and a smirk.

He watched his little girl sigh in defeat and smiled in triumph as he sat down to dig into his meal. Jane had always griped at him for his manners, Hermione used to do so as well but that was before she began to spend so much time around boys. Normally a father would be concerned but all he could think was that he was grateful for all the help and protection they had offered his little girl over the years. He'd only met the Weasley family and Harry Potter briefly after the war. They had come with Hermione to collect them from Australia. He and Jane had be upset at first but it didn't take to long for Hermione to instill some logic into their prone forms, explaining about the war and everything she had ever kept from them. In the end the only thing that had mattered was that they were all safe and Hermione was alive.

Harvey would talk about it sometimes, but only with his wife. They'd talk about the many different times they had almost lost her and more often then not it ended in tears. But they could never begrudge Hermione her decisions, knowing that in the long run it was the best possible course of action.

"Hermione, if your done eating than why don't you go send a message to the Weasleys?" His wife's voice broke through his thoughts and he nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes Poppet, that's a great idea. Besides your mum and I need to go snag your birthday presents out of the boot of the car." He laughed at his daughters indignant look.

"That's you hid them?" She yelped. "I've been snooping around the house for ages and they've been there all along?"

"Told you you'd never find them Darling." Jane chided and began to clear away the empty dishes.

HGHGHGHGHG

Hermione grumbled as she made her way up the steps, it had been a long standing tradition that if Hermione could find her gifts before her birthday then she'd get to open them that same day, with the added bonus of an additional present on her birthday as well. So far she'd manage to find them nearly every year since she was four. The game was played earlier in the summer in her teens years, due to her having to go off to school before her birthday but the principal was still the same.

She didn't have an owl, but she was hoping Hedwig would be perching at her window or else she'd have to find another way to contact the Weasleys about staying. She didn't think it'd be a problem, but it'd be better to ask permission instead of just showing up out of the blue. She huffed and swung the door to her room open, breathing a sigh as she spotted Hedwig blinking at her from her window sill.

"Hey pretty bird, Come on in." Hermione cooed softly and smiled as Hedwig jumped off the sill and landed her desk, followed quickly by Pig, who flapped about excitedly. "'lo Pig."

She quickly untied the packages from the loops around their legs and wrote a quick reply before send Hedwig off with her note, asking for permission to stay. Letting Hedwig know that she would leave one of the windows downstairs open for her to fly through when she brought back the reply.

Hermione scooped up the packages and brought them downstairs with her, setting them on the table with the other brightly wrapped gifts her parents had brought in from the car.

Unwrapping the one's from her parents first she found a Mobile (rather sleeker look to the ones she had seen during her summer holidays, apparently there had been new models made), a football jersey for Manchester United, a new journal and quill set and to top it off a new Mac Powerbook 550. One of the newer types of mobile computers out, apparently it was all the rage and would only get better with time. They had a small PC in the den, which Hermione's parents had purchased for her to use when she was home from school. She had had loads of fun playing around on it and now she apparently had a mobile version of it as well.

"This all really great stuff, but I can't use half of it around magic." Hermione told her parents as she set her new computer aside.

"Yes, well that was the point Poppet." Her father replied and pat her on the head.

"What your father means is we've heard you talk about how things would be so much easier if you could just access things like the internet, or even just use technology. So now you get to try and make it work, the only thing we ask if for you to _not _destroy any of it, because as much as we love you I'm not spending another 4000 pounds on a computer." Hermione's jaw dropped as she stared at her mother blankly, prompting her father to laugh.

"Relax Hermione, Your mother and I can afford it especially since all you've ever asked for previously was nothing more than books. Books are cheap, you deserve this. Besides it makes it rather easy for us to contact you when we need to." Her father said, the mirth still present in his voice and Hermione was mortified to find that tears had welled up in her eyes.

"Daddy, Mummy. Thank you so much!" She breathed and whipped at her eyes, her parents arms came around her and squeezed her close.

"We just want to give you something to work towards and have a way to know what going on right away, instead of having to wait hours to know when somethings happened, we're being rather selfish if you think about it."

They stayed that way for awhile because Jane had ended up crying as well, but when the tears were dry her parents sat her down and walked her through how to use both her mobile and her new computer. Apparently her mobile could send out things called texts as well, but it was a limited amount that could be sent, about 100 per phone every month and she only had about 300 minutes of call time as well. Her parents warned her about roaming charges as well. They programmed the numbers into the phone and then helped her set up and email account on her computer. She had gotten so excited that she had forgotten the gifts from Harry and the Weasleys, in fact she had been so excited she had completely ignored the fact that Hedwig was suppose to come back. That is until Hedwig pecked at her head to get her attention, hooting indignantly at being ignored.

"Ow! Hedwig you bloody bird!" She reached forward and untied the parchment. "I'm sorry I didn't see you but that doesn't mean you get to peck me!" Hermione scolded the bird while she handed her a piece of cold bacon from the fridge. The owl snapped it up and flapped out the open window and Hermione made her way back over to her parents at the table.

Unrolling the parchment and giving it a quick scan she smiled up at her parents. "They said I'm welcome to come, which is nice since it's been ages since I've seen them."

Her mother nodded and said she'd be back before she made her way upstairs, her father only smiled as her mother brought down a suitcase and set it on the table. "Your Gran sent this over, and since you're going on a trip for a couple weeks, it's the perfect time to give it to you."

Hermione stepped forward and unzipped it slowly, almost terrified of the clothing that may be lurking inside it. Her Gran had always been a little eccentric in her fashion tastes and Hermione could only hope that she had exercised restraint. At the very top was a vibrant scarlet jacket that looked like it'd hit Hermione at the knee, beneath that a simple v-necked jumper, A strapless black dress, costume beads of all different colors and a lovely blouse that had a sheer lace back and ruffles at the bottom below the belted waist, speaking of belts there were three one red, one white and the other black, all thick and big, meant to cinch larger t-shirts and dresses amongst a few vintage tee shirts and skinny jeans from the eighties was an old vintage swimming costume, likely from the fifties and despite herself Hermione was pleased. It wasn't often that her Gran sent her things she'd truly enjoy but with all these new clothes and bits and baubles she could seamlessly add them in with her other things and it would still work.

Her father seemed rather pleased with the demure swimming outfit her Gran and sent and Hermione poked her tongue out at him. She turned back to the once again forgotten packages, weary to open them, because she knew what would be there. The same book Ron bought her every year, because he'd forget he already had and of course Harry's was always different but it almost never suited her taste. Ginny always sent make up and Mrs. Weasley sent care packages filled with sweets she would never eat and would end up giving to the children next door. She picked up the package from Ron and sure enough there was a copy of _'Perfect Prefects, The in-depth guide to prefects who got somewhere in life.' _She rolled her eyes and set it down, the age old adage of 'it's the thought that counts' didn't apply here, because if he had thought about it he would realise he'd bought if for her 5 times before this. Ginny's package was of course a nice little set of perfume; lipstick and eye make up. The name of it 'The naughty Bookworm.' The name itself caused Hermione to snort in humour, Ginny liked to joke that she was really some secret sex kitten that hid her passion beneath her demure looks and heavy books. Harry's was last and she was pleased that instead of a book, she found a photo album. It seemed like he had taken care writing it and by the looks of it had used a pensieve to capture certain memories, making funny comments about each one.

She flipped through the album with her parents and explained different photographs to her parents, and felt warmth surge through her with each proud smile her parents gave her. They had never really bonded over her experiences in the magic world and now they could. It was a nice feeling and she really didn't want it to stop, but she knew she had to leave soon, before it got to late. So she went upstairs taking her things with her and packed up a couple bags, taking care with her computer and new album. She kept all the clothes her Gran had sent and added a few more of her own. Her old ratty converse shoes, some hightops, her moms old 'rocker boots' and a few pairs of heels to top it off. She really did love her different pairs of shoes. She slipped the suitcases with her clothes inside her beaded bag, which held the vast majority of her personal belongings. Scooping up her keys and the carrying case containing her Powerbook she ran down the steps.

"Poppet, I just realised we'll be missing 3 Manc games while I'm gone." This news prompted Hermione to frown, "Don't worry there'll be more of them, I'll be back in time to seem Manchester crush Leeds."

Hermione nodded her head and gave her dad a small smile, giving both her parents a kiss to the cheek and tight hug. Nearly crying again as her mother squeezed her tight. Don't worry Mum, I'll be calling you as soon as I reach the village near the Weasley home.

"You're not apparating Darling?" Jane asked confused.

"Why apparate when I can drive mum?" Hermione said and held her keys up. "I took my test at the beginning of the summer, you only have to be seventeen. Besides you gave me the bloody Mazda when you bought your shiny new BMW, remember?"

Her mother smiled and nodded her head, her dad handed her the road maps and told her the best route, one that would take her about fours hours to drive. As she made her way out to the car she hear two loud 'pops!' coming from inside the house, she dropped her bags and turned around, wand drawn and rushed back into the house.

*******REVIEW******

Also, BETA anyone?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Soo I have a BETA now, .. Lets hope this all works out nicely shall we? Also do they call them highways in Britain or something else? I'm to lazy to do anymore research right now.. Well Hope you liked this chapter.. it's a bit bland for me but whatever..

Chapter two

Stumbling back into the house Hermione fired off a quick stunner, barely missing both of the two new figures that had popped into her home.

"Oi! Granger, watch where you're flingin spells!" She heard growl out as the speaker climbed up from the floor.

"Yes well next time try not to pop into my home unannounced! You're lucky all I shot out was a bleeding stunner you idiot!" She growled right back, keeping her wand level with their chests. "Now what on earth are you two doing here?"

Two identical faces curled into grins as they leaned forward, "we thought we'd come and help you take your bags," one twin said as he moved forward and curled his arm around her shoulder.

"Seriously Granger, you can't expect such find upstanding wizards such as ourselves to just leave a lady to carry her own bags." The other said and flicked his hair back out of his eyes, Hermione's eyes focusing on the side of his head, causing her to smirk.

"Well George, I really only have the one and given what it is I'd rather not subject it to magical travel." She said primly, smirking at the boy.

"Then how exactly are we going to be getting back to the Burrow?" Fred asked her as he leaned his weight more heavily against her shoulder.

Slipping away and laughing as he stumbled, she addressed Fred, "_WE _won't be going anywhere together, however I'll be taking my car and you two can apparate to wherever."

"Aww Granger, that's cold." George replied, his response was followed by a jump when Hermione's mother cleared her throat rather loudly.

"Mum, Dad. These are George and Fred. Boys my parents." Hermione introduced them quickly, "And since we've already said our good byes, mum, dad I'll be going now."

She moved back towards the door, only to have her progress to be stopped by one of the twins. His arms spread across the frame of the door, his torso leaning towards her. His eyes were lit with a mischievous twinkle and she scowled up at him.

"Move please," She said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, a maneuver that had worked more than once on the twins in the past. However it seemed they had grown slightly immune to it, as his lips pulled into a smirk and he shook his head.

"We want to ride in the car too Granger." He responded to her demand to move.

"Yes well, you can't because I said so. Plus one of you would have to sit in the back and then you'd be cramped." She responded and tried to duck under his arm.

Two arms wrapped around her from behind and lifted her off the ground, "come on Granger, we don't mind! It'll be loads of fun!"

They proceeded to carry her out the door, amidst her parents' chuckles and calls of seeing her soon. She growled and kicked her legs, beating her fists against the boy's back, "whichever one you are, you need to put me down!"

FWFWFWFWFW

Fred had to stop himself from flinching at her words, George had slung her over his shoulder only moments before and he had hoped she knew the difference between them. After all if the smartest witch of the time couldn't figure it out, would anyone ever be able to?

He moved forward, a scowl on his face and opened the door of the car, only to yelp in shock when a loud wailing sound went off.

"What the bloody hell is that noise?" he called out, almost ashamed to admit to the fear that crept into his voice.

"That would be my car alarm, now if you'd be so kind as to _put. Me. Down_. Then I'll be happy to turn it off!" Hermione ground out between clenched teeth and Fred couldn't help but smile at her ire.

His brother let out and exasperated sigh and let Hermione fall from his shoulders, catching her just before she fell to the ground. George laughed as the girl scowled at him and Fred couldn't help but join in as Hermione spun around and began to mutter under her breath. Something about killing them and stringing them up by their toes.

"Let us know when you're done channeling old Filch," he said to her, moving to the passenger side of the car, slipping in as she reluctantly unlocked the doors. Watching as George squeezed his tall frame into the back seat of the car, clambering in behind the driver's side seat.

"Why do you get the front again?" George grumbled, shifting his legs forward as Hermione adjusted the seat of the car.

"Because I came over to this side first? Because I'm the better looking twin? Because I'm more charming, smarter, brilliant? I can go on for ages Georgie." Fred replied and turned to give his brother a cheeky smile. George swiped at his head and Fred lurched forward, dodging the blow.

"Shut it Freddie." His brother growled and they both froze their antics when a throat was cleared to their left.

"Are you boys done?"

A nod of the head and a sheepish smile from both.

"Are you positive?"

Another nod.

"Very well then, now sit still and no fighting or I swear to god I'll leave you on the side of the road, sans wand and you can walk your arses back to the Burrow. Are we clear?" Fred nodded his head and could see George do the same out of the corner of his eye.

"Alright then, put your seat belts on," came Hermione's last order before she began to pull out of the drive, her torn between a scowl and a smile; an awkward expression that he had come to find endearing over the years, mostly because it seemed to always be the face she made around the them.

HGHGHGHGHGHG

The drive to the Burrow had been long but filled with conversation and catching up and listening to the muggle radio and teaching the twins different songs. She hated the fact that she couldn't tell them apart anymore; they had changed so much since the war that she couldn't find the distinctive traits they had before. There were newer scars and marks that made it impossible to find the other ones she had used before. Their smiles were different and the haunted lights in their eyes identical. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to tell them apart again.

She had thought that four hours with the twins would have driven her batty, but as she pulled up the long drive leading to the Burrow she was laughing along with their stories and stupid jokes. Climbing out of the car and walking up the path to the house, arms wrapped snugly around her shoulders, she felt like she was back at Hogwarts and like the war had never happened. This was the feeling she had been craving since she had gone back home, confronting nightmares and phantom aches in her body. She had pretended for her parents, pretended she was perfectly fine and that nothing hurt. She had taken potions and used different spells every night before bed and she had figured out what was effective. Glancing at the twins on either side of her she wondered how much everyone else was pretending as well.

She was shaken from her thoughts suddenly, by the body that collided with her own.

"Mione!" a voice squealed happily in her ear.

"Gin." she breathed, hugging the girl close, "It's so good to see you!"

"Hey how come she gets a hug?" one of the twins whined.

"Yeah you just attack us!"

"Don't even apologize!"

"And then you come here and hug up on our little sister!"

"Shut it." Ginny said, interrupting her brothers ranting and smiled at Hermione. The sheepish smile on Hermione's face must have given her away because Ginny stepped back and gestured to her brothers.

Hermione moved forward and gave both boys a hug, telling them she was thrilled to see them as well. They gave her cheeky grins before sprinting out the back door and onto the lawn. Turning back to her friend, she noticed the girl wrapped in a towel, straps to a bathing-suit peaking out.

"What were you up to before I showed up?" She smirked.

"I was going to go sunbathe, but I can wait for you to change if you like." Ginny replied, "Mum let me get a wicked new suit from a muggle shop in the village, Ron nearly had a heart attack when he saw it."

"Bikini then?" Hermione inquired as they made their way up the steps.

Ginny nodded and grinned slyly at her friend.

Hermione laughed and swung the door to Ginny's room open, "my Gran sent me something, it's and older one but I think it suits me."

Ginny curiosity was obvious and Hermione set down her computer bag before opening up her beaded bag, digging through the contents until she managed to locate her suitcase. She sorted through it quickly, ignoring Ginny's coos of pleasure over the other articles of clothes, pulling out a demure one piece that looked like a belonged in the pin-up posters her dad thought he had hidden from her prying eyes when she was little.

"Oh wow!" Ginny said, her voice soft. "It really does suit you, it's simple and doesn't show to much but still sort of sexy in a way."

"My dad likes the fact that it's a one-piece quite a bit." she replied to Ginny's description, a smile on her face.

"I bet he does," The girl replied with a snort.

Hermione began stripping down, folding her clothes and placing them neatly on her designated bed. A lot of her modesty went out the window when she spent months sharing the same tent with two boys, so now she was perfectly comfortable stripping down in front of her best girl friend. It might have been because she knew Ginny wouldn't judge her scars, there would be no critical eye judging her, just a friend that loved her for who she was.

She began to wiggle into her new swimming outfit, reflecting on how their relationship had been rocky back in school. Sometimes the girl would get insecure over her friendship with Harry, sometimes Ginny would take her temper out on her but in the end they always came back as friends. After all it wasn't like Hermione had never snapped at the other girl before either.

Her suit was on and she pulled her hair back into a quick pony tail, snatching up a pair of sunglasses that lay on Ginny's dresser. Ginny might have to get her clothes second-hand, but the younger girl still had excellent taste. Hermione had always assumed that it might make the younger girl bitter and when it was brought up Ginny only smirked. Apparently she bought whatever she wanted, even if it didn't fit, Molly could wave her wand and make everything the perfect size.

Taking the towel that was handed to her she followed Ginny down the steps and outside. The boys were flying around on their brooms and paid now heed to the two girls setting up towels on the ground. Lounging back against the soft fabric beneath her, she soaked in the warm September sun, sighing in contentment.

Her relaxing was disturbed by Ginny chucking a potion flask into her stomach, "better put that on before you get crispy."

Sitting up she popped the cork on the flask and poured some into her hand. Rubbing it into her legs she turned to Ginny, "Did you get your back?"

"I'll get it later before I turn over, not like it's going to be exposed to anything," the other girl replied, "Why want me to get yours?" Ginny waggled her eyebrows and let a pervy grin light up her face.

"I was going to ask you but not if you're going to be a lech!" Hermione replied with a laugh.

Suddenly Ginny had her tackled to the ground and was tickling everywhere she could reach. Hermione squealed and kicked her legs, struggling to get away.

"Ginny!" She screeched as she tried to shove the girls hands away, "Stop!"

Neither girl was aware that the noise had alerted the boys above them to the spectacle below.

FWFWFWFWFW

The game had been halted and the boys watched on as the two girls wrestled around on the ground.

"Does it have to be _Ginny_ wrestling with Granger? Couldn't we have invited Luna over?" his twin grumbled and Fred chuckled. Though he had to agree, the sight would be much more pleasant if it was anyone other than Ginny wrestling with Granger.

"Don't be stupid, you can imagine it's someone else." Ron grumbled, causing Harry to chuckle.

"I have to disagree," the raven haired boy said, "I think I'd prefer it to be Ginny and Hermione, two of the fittest girls I know wrestling about? Why would I want to change a thing?"

Fred and his brothers scowled at him, "Oi! That's our little sister your perving over." Ron crowed, pushing Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah well, she's not mine." Harry replied, smirking at the other boys. "In fact, I think I'll go play around as well."

Fred watched open mouthed as Harry angled his broom and flew towards the ground, landing with ease and taking off towards the wrestling girls.

He heard his brothers grumble before they took off towards the ground as well, following quickly after him. Fred quick at their heels, the three sprinted after they dropped their brooms on the ground. Reaching forward and tugging George back towards him, he whispered the plan in his brother's ear, each boy smirking as they pulled out their wands.

"Ready George?" he called out as they reached the group of wrestling teens. Harry had Ginny over his shoulder and another arm wrapped around Hermione's neck, putting her in a headlock as Ron was lifting her up by the waist.

"Aguamenti!" he intoned, George's voice harmonizing with his own. He laughed as the two boys dropped Hermione to the ground, yelping in surprise as the cold water struck them. Ginny kicking and flailing her legs as Harry ran with her. Hermione was up in seconds though rubbing her arm and pulling out her own wand before shooting him with a jet of ice cold water as well, making him yelp in surprise. George chased after Harry and Ginny and Ron was taking off to the house while he and Hermione chased each other around with their wands.

Their fun was interrupted by the screech of an owl, followed by another and he stumbled into Hermione as she stopped abruptly. Catching them both before they could hit the ground, Fred followed her gaze and saw a flock of owls swooping down, and dropping letters at their feet before taking off.

A/N: So it seems that the chapters I got from Merlin's mistress will be expanded to more than just the four chapters.. Not sure yet if that's a good thing.. I'm starting to get back into my writing groove and I'm hoping it gets better and up to par soon. Thanks to . for the BETA work.. it's good to get outside input. :D Though I didn't change everything she mentioned she still helped quite a bit so thanks to her :D Also I realise that the updates are slow going but I've got tons of things happening all at once and it's all driving me batty.. but I haven't forgotten about any of my stories and I will continue each and everyone as often as I can.

******REVIEW******


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: Short chapter, I didn't even realise I had this little piece written up until I found it on my flash drive, I feel terrible for forgetting about it.. sorry for the delay and the length... I couldn't resist leaving it in suspense so I kept it short.

Disclaimer: Not mine adopted from Merlin's Mistress and Harry potter is owned by JK rowling

Chapter 3

Hermione entered the house with the rest of her friends, most of them still dripping wet. But for once Molly Weasley's voice didn't screech at them about tracking in mud and water, they could only hear quiet sniffling coming from the kitchen.

They made their way to the soft sounds and in the kitchen sat Molly, sobbing softly into a handkerchief, reading a letter that was gripped tightly in her hands. Next to her was a small pile of letter, each one addressed to the different people currently staying at the Burrow.

Fred was the first to move forward, he almost looked resigned to reading the letter, as if he knew what it was about. He tore his open and scanned the letter, his face never changed but at the end he sighed in disgust and dropped down into one of the chairs at the table.

Hermione had moved forward soon after he had, plucking up her letter and reading it through.

_To the wizarding community of Great Britain,_

_The ministry has come to find, as a result of the most recent census that the wizarding population has experienced an exponential decline in population since Grindewald. Squib births and still-borns are more common than magically inclined children. We as the ministry have decided that we must rebuild the wizarding population before it grows too late and the quickest solution to this is a new law that was passed just this morning. Population act 2578 or as it has been aptly dubbed, 'the marriage law' has been implemented._

_Some important facts and stipulations involved in this law is as follows._

_No pureblood may marry another pureblood unless they show documentation proving no close relations and are approved by the ministry._

_No pureblood may marry a Half-blood without providing family trees going back 3 generations._

_All couples must appear at the special ward in St. Mungos, that has been designated to fertility and birthing._

_All couples must be married within seven weeks of receiving this letter, if for some reason they have not wed the ministry will randomly select a spouse for them from the registered singles._

_If a person has received an invitation for marriage already and have not married that person or someone else before the end of the seven weeks, they will be forced to marry their first suitor._

_A child must be born in the first four years of marriage._

_This law will affect wizards and witches from the ages of 17 to 75._

_Failure to comply with the law will result in strict punishments for all involved._

_Sincerely,_

_The ministry of magic._

_Witnessed by Undersecretary Percival Weasley and Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimegour._

When she had finished read the letter her hands were shaking with suppressed anger, she could mentally tick off all the people this benefited in the wizengamot as she read through the extensive list of signatures at the bottom of the parchment.

"They can't do this!" Was the outraged cry that flew from her mouth before she even realised she was speaking.

Shouts of agreements were heard around the room, most of the occupants looking a little green.

"Oh I'm afraid they can dear, they can and they have." Molly's voice was a quiet tremble as she spoke up, "Athur's tried so hard to rally support against that dreadful thing, but now it's either marriage or Azkaban."

Hermione gasped along with a few others in the room, Azkaban? All because they didn't want to get married? That was preposterous. Soon they were all sitting at the table, trying to figure out what they would do, Molly laid of plates filled with food but no one was hungry enough to eat. The conversation went back and forth around the table, no concrete plans being made for anyone and then a letter dropped onto Hermione lap.

Her name was scrawled across the heavy parchment in a neat elegant script, her hands shook with nerves as she broke the seal that closed the parchment together. She read the letter in silence, it was insulting and filled her with so much dread. She couldn't do this, she wouldn't! There was no way in that that ponce would be her husband. Her hand crushed the paper into a fist and she stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to Ginny's room.

When she had made sure the door was firmly shut behind her she proceeded to scream and scream, so loud the people down stairs were cringing away from the noise that reverberated through the house. As she screamed and cursed, making a mess of the room she felt to small arms wrap around her.

"Hermione? What happened?" Ginny called to her over her curses.

"Malfoy, that sod!" Hermione growled, "the bastard sent me a letter!"

"What's it say?" Ginny whispered, smoothing her hands over Hermione's back, in a futile attempt to calm her down.

"What do you think it said Gin! The bastard proposed! I don't have anyone else to marry me and here I am stuck because Malfoy sent me a letter!" Hermione cried out, bringing them both to their knees as she knelt on the floor. "I don't want to marry him Gin."

"You won't Mione, we'll figure it out." Ginny whispered.

Ginny's hands smoothed over her back as she cooed words to Hermione, trying desperately to calm her friend down. They eventually lulled into a sort of silence that was only broken when Hermione would take in a shaky breath, exerting her lungs against the tightness she felt there. She couldn't say how long Ginny had sat beside her, soothing her with her mere presence, she let herself be taken away in the soothing pattern that skimmed over her back and as her eyes began to close and resounding crash sounded from above them.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ginny squeaked and both girls clambered to their feet and ran up the steps, taking them two at a time arriving upstairs to here the finish of an argument.

"-what the bloody hell do you know? You have a bird George! I've got no one, I'll get stuck with some sorry excuse for a witch who only wants me for my money!" Apparently Fred hadn't liked the law nearly as much as everyone else had if his hoarse voice was anything to go by.

"Come on Fred. It won't be so bad, I'm sure there's plenty of birds out there you could marry that are better than that." George was trying his best to comfort his brother but by the sounds of it, it hadn't been working at all.

After a few moments, Fred's voice chimed back in and asked a question neither Ginny or George could answer, "Really Georgie? Who would you recommend then? Who should I marry?"

Hermione didn't know what had come over her, but she did know this was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up, her feet moved swiftly and her hand was on the door knob before she realized exactly what she was doing. "Me."

Her quiet voice filled the air and the twins turned to her, shock on their faces, finally Fred spoke up, "What?"

"Marry Me."


	4. Chapter 4

I lost the original chapters for this story… But the show must go on and I hope no one's too upset that I have to divert from the original plot lines Merlin'sMistress set out…

Disclaimer: JKR owns HP

Hermione looked at their faces, a small grin working it's way across her mouth. "We can get married Fred." She said it with as much confidence as she could muster and she only hoped that he didn't laugh in her face.

His mouth snapped shut and he nodded his head, "Brilliant!" He broke out in an easy grin and Hermione felt her chest clench in the most peculiar way. She knew though that Fred was a good man and he would treat her well, even if they weren't in love. And as much she wanted her future husband to be in love with her, she couldn't see that happening realistically in the near future given her predicament.

"Granger you're a saint!" George crowed and picked her up, squeezing her tight and spinning them around before handing her over Fred, who caught her deftly and looked down at her with a leer.

"Helps that she's easy on the eyes." Fred said with a smirk as her cheeks flushed. He twirled them around and she couldn't help but giggle madly as he danced them around the room. Soon though she was complaining of motion sickness and Fred had her feet on the floor in seconds, his hands brushing the bare skin of her legs and back in the process. She was suddenly very aware she was still in her bathing suit, feeling flustered she ducked her head down and hid behind her hair.

Clearing her throat before she spoke Hermione looked over to Fred, her cheeks still pink. "Thank you Fred, you're not so bad yourself." She wished her voice hadn't cracked slightly at the end, it would have sounded so much better.

Fred's cheeks though, tinged pink and George was laughing madly at his brother's shy nerves. "Come on Gin, let's let these two work out the fine print yeah?" She watched George grip Ginny's shoulder and drag her off out of the room, ignoring her protests.

Fred's a awkward shuffling made her grin, apparently even a Weasley Twin got nervous. "It's alright Fred, I don't expect you to be the perfect husband. All I want is respect and maybe a little affection now and then. After all I don't expect you to act like you're in love with me and if you did I think I might be a little insulted."

Fred barked out a laugh then and bumped his shoulder against hers, "Are you saying you don't love me Granger?" His lower lip jutted out just slightly and his eyes grew big.

"Oh I love you Fred Weasley, as much as any girl can love a scoundrel anyways." She nudged him back and broke out in a fit of laughter as he fell smack onto his arse.

"A scoundrel? I'll have you know madam that I am a gentleman!" He was making a good attempt at the pompous attitude so many purebloods put on but the effect was lost since he was staring up at her from the floor.

"Yes Fred, a Scoundrel. And you are one," Seeing the wounded look on his face she relented. "Alright maybe you're a bit loveable."

He gave her a lecherous grin then, raking his eyes over her mostly naked form, "Just how loveable are we talking?"

She huffed and smacked a pillow to his face and flounced out from the room, ignoring his spluttering protests.

FWFWFWFWFWFW

Fred had just enough time to catch a glimpse of her arse before she waltzed out of the room a he had to admit things could be worse for him. Not that it wasn't all part of the plan. See he and George had heard their parents discussing the law and realized that Hermione would be a prime target for the sympathizers that still walked the streets of the world. Most of the death eaters had been rounded up during the last battle but a few still lingered and Fred thought he owed this to her after she had saved his life and that of his twin. Both having been caught under the rubble as George tackled him out of the way of most of the explosion. They had both been badly injured then though and his right leg still seized up every now and then. He knew George couldn't feel much on the back of his body, most of the skin having to be grown back over a few weeks.

It was odd thinking that war had only happened just a couple of months ago that their world had changed irrevocably. He was only thankful that his family came out (mostly) unscathed and he owed much of that to Harry and Hermione. He'd do anything to pay them back and since he was the only single, not prattish Weasley boy He and George decided that He would marry Granger. Though they knew they would have to make it her idea somehow and if that failed Fred would have approached her himself. Thankfully though their plan went off without a hitch. He was nervous though that if she found out she wouldn't trust him anymore, wouldn't look at him with the same happiness she did now.

God's he wasn't even married and he was already starting to act like a ponce. Shaking his head he stood and dusted himself off before running down the steps, crashing into Harry at the bottom of the steps.

"Woah there Fred!" Harry grunted as the impact knocked the wind out of both of them.

"Nice guess Potter!" Fred crowed.

"Not a guess, George is in the kitchen." Harry replied, his voice wheezy as he sucked in air.

"Ah"

Fred made his way to where George was and spotted him teasing Hermione lightly about 'Marrying the less handsome twin'. Feeling a tad miffed Fred made his way over and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her snugly against him.

"Don't listen to him _Hermione _he doesn't know what he's saying, his brain's been addled since we tested those fainting fancies and his head smacked against the cauldron."

"Oi! Freddie! We promised to never speak of those moments."

"Yeah well we also never thought we'd be getting married to anyone nearly as smart as the birds we've got, so they're bound to figure it out eventually when we come home all banged up."

George smirked then, his eyes leering slightly at nothing, "I do enjoy the tender loving care of Angelina."

Fred chuckled and turned his head, hesitating slightly before pressing a kiss to Hermione's scalp, her curls tickling his nose and eyes.

GWGWGWGWGWGWGW

Fred would want you to think that it was because of their plan that he was marrying Granger, but George knew better. He knew that Granger was everything Fred wanted in a girl except he never even thought to look at the poor girl because they both knew Ronnie would got apoplectic if he even caught wind of a wink coming from their direction. This law had presented him with the perfect opportunity to give his brother what he needed. He did feel a bit bad, manipulating them both into this situation but as he witnessed Fred press a kiss to the girls hair and the shy grin that was her response he didn't feel the least bit guilty. Besides Ron would have made her miserable, right?

Thankfully though, both of the girls had thought to change their clothes before coming downstairs for dinner, George could only take so much of seeing so much of his sister's flesh and he didn't think Fred would appreciate all of his brothers leching over his soon-to-be wife. Though the clothes she wore now really weren't much better, the back of her shirt was completely sheer and if he had seen right she wasn't wearing a bra either. Muggleborns were the best, they weren't nearly as self-conscious of how wizards viewed them. Shaking his head and looking away from the scowl on Fred's face. His twin having caught his curious gaze and leer at Hermione's back.

He shrugged and grinned, leaning over to ruffle Fred's hair. "Can't really blame me mate."

"Blame you for what?" Granger inquired and he bit his groan, damn forgot she could hear them.

Fred grinned down at her and tugged a curl, George breathed out a sigh of relief. "Nothing luv, nothing at all."

Fred pulled her away and George moved to the kitchen counter, digging out a quill and some parchment, writing a short but hopefully sweet note to Angie, hoping that she'd come see him later that night. He was planning to ask her to marry him anyways, this was all just speeding up the process.

HGHGHGHGHGHG

She still felt a little confused over the conversation she'd just had with the twins but figured it was one of those things they did, only speaking a few words to a lengthy conversation, she and Harry could do that sometimes, though not quite as accurately as the twins seemed to. But she figured that had more to do with time spent together than anything else.

Fred's arm was still wrapped around her shoulder and he was whispering in her ear, silly things that made her smile. The gesture was intimate and she was thankful that they were at ease with each other in this moment. She knew this was his attempt to keep her from thinking too much, overanalyzing the future.

Her good mood though was dampened severely when Ron's red face came into her field of sight. She cringed as he stomped towards them only to be shocked when she was spun around and pressed back against the counter, Fred blocking her body with his own.

"Yes Ronald?" Fred's voice was stiff, a tone that she had never heard him use before.

"What are you doing?" His voice was like a squeak and Hermione almost laughed before she caught herself.

"What I can't talk to Hermione now?" Fred's voice sounded strange and she wished she could see his face.

"That's- Of cour-" Ron stammered, getting angrier by the second.

"That's what I thought." Fred bit out before turning around to face her, his hand coming up to brush a stray curl behind her ear. His face was split with a wide grin, "where were we?" he murmured before leaning in slightly, continuing to whisper things to her. Ignoring the growl that forced it's way from Ron's mouth. Hermione though had enough time to scream before Fred crumpled right before her eyes. Ron was shaking his fist and he only had a split second before George was on him, punching the younger boy in any place he could reach. Ron might have been a fair dueler but he had nothing on George's size and strength.

She was on her knees though, cradling Fred's head and not even bothering to admonish George for attacking Ron in kind. Firmly believing he deserved it, considering how delicate the twins' health was at the moment. It was a miracle Molly even let them fly at all. Though she knew she should be telling George to stop, if not for Ron then for his own health, but as her hands fluttered over Fred's face and skull, finding the lump that was setting on his temple she grew more concerned that the boy was concussed.

Molly's shrill scream soon stopped all commotion that was happening and she was beside Hermione the instant she had insured the two other boys would cease their scuffle. "What happened Hermione, dear?"

"Ron punched Fred." Was all she could force past her lips and she wiggled her fingers into her boot, pulling her wand free, thinking that she'd need a better place for it next time, she cast a mild spell that would ease the pain in his head and she began to shake him awake, grinning madly when he groaned and buried his face into her lap.

"-fuck was that?" he grumbled and Molly smacked his arm in warning.

"It seems Ronald punched you Fred, do you know why?" Molly asked, looking at Hermione curiously.

Hermione flinched and Fred grumbled some more, attempting to sit up. Hermione pushed his shoulders back down and covered his eyes with her hand, knowing that the light must be only making it worse. He squinted at her and smiled his thanks. "Was talking to Hermione mom, well whispering is more like and he got all huffy. I exasperated the problem by confronting him."

"Ron didn't say anything after and then Fred turned back to me and we started talking again and then Ron just punched him." Hermione's lip was trembling and she could feel the catch in her voice, Fred's hand found hers and gave it a squeeze as George placed a hand on her head, smiling down at her softly. She knew this was all her fault and she appreciated their attempts to reassure her but it didn't make her feel much better. "George sort of lost it after Fred collapsed and started pummeling Ron. I didn't stop him because the git deserved it, he knows that twin's are on a thin line right now when it comes to their health. Merlin they can't even make new stock for their shop because of it."

Molly stood then, helping her and George lift Fred and move him to the couch, where they elevated hi s head a little more, still wary he may be concussed. Hermione moved to the kitchen again and came back with ice wrapped up in a cloth, pressing it gently to the lump on his temple.

"Now George Fabian Weasley! What on earth were you thinking? You know how I feel about fighting and with your health only just starting to recover! You could have done yourself serious injury!" Molly though, Hermione observed was careful to keep her admonishment to a waspish whisper, fully aware of her other sons current predicament. She loved Molly and while she could be overwhelming at times she hoped she was half as good a mum. She swallowed then and felt a bit faint herself, she was going to be a mum and if the ministry had their way it'd be sooner rather than later. She was far too young for this, so was Fred. So was every single one of them.

When she glanced back down to Fred, he was staring at her in the strangest way, like he knew what she had been thinking. He grinned at her though and reached his hand out to hers, intertwining their fingers and tugging her down to him, making her kneel in front of him.

"It'll be alright Hermione. We'll work it all out." He lifted their hands towards him, turning them so he could press a firm kiss to the back of her hand, his eyes never breaking contact with her own. She felt frozen in that moment. Fred would be a wonderful husband.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey lovelies, good to see you all again. Now remember the review competitions I hold, one lucky reviewer will get a one-shot, Hermione centered pairing of their choice done up by me posted to my story thread Granger Files. This will happen often throughout all of my stories. I'll even do a crossover one if you like. This chapter is a bit short and more fluffy and funny than anything. This fic is going to be fairly lighthearted I think all things considered.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my creativity and the original author of this adopted fic is MerlinsMistress(I do believe that's right)

Chapter 5

Fred groaned and shifted, the morning light making his head throb. He reached out and scrambled his hand until it clutched something soft and he tugged, hoping to drag it up to his face to cover his eyes. Though when the object screamed and moved he clutched his ears and whimpered in pain. The pain potion had definitely worn off then.

Small hands grasped his and pulled them away from his ears, opening his eyes slightly he saw Hermione and he gave her a feeble grin. "Was that your hair then?"

His voice sounded thick and raspy, not enough sleep probably.

"Yes Fred, it was my hair." Hermione gave him a sardonic smile and shook her head. "Why were you yanking on it?"

Her voice was soft and low as she spoke and he let his eyes drift shut again, it was soothing. "Trying to cover my eyes."

"Oh, the light? Sorry Fred." She made to stand and he shot his hand out to grab her arm.

"Were you there on the floor all night?" His breath stopped in his chest while he waited for her answer.

"Oh, well yes, we're friends and I was worried." Her face was to the floor and her cheeks were a vibrant pink. He smiled slightly and ruffled her hair.

"I'll be alright Hermione, it was just a punch." He turned onto his back and sprawled across the surface. "I've had worse after all."

The room became darker after she drew the curtains closed, shifting around the room to his wardrobe, "You're suppose to stay in bed all day but as I know that won't happen unless we tie you down, I'm going to help you out today."

"Oh you can tie me up anytime, Hermione." Fred waggled his eyebrows and regretted it as soon as his head throbbed again. He clutched at his forehead and groaned.

"You're lucky you're injured, I would have hexed you otherwise!" Hermione admonished him with a waspish whisper and he bit back a laugh.

"That's a fact brother, I can remember her hexing me for saying just the same thing back when she was an ickle sixther." Fred turned and glared at his brother, why must George always hit on his bird?

"When did you two even talk in her sixth year?" Fred shot back and George chuckled.

"Daydream charms?" George prodded and Fred grinned widely, he'd remember that day forever.

"So wait? You hit on her in the shop?" Fred asked, his throat tight.

"No, not so much hitting on me as trying to be as disturbing and annoying as possible." Hermione interjected before George could get a word out. "Which is half the reason that hex was so bad."

"So wait when you were acting funny that week after sometimes?"

"Yup."

"But that was-"

"Brilliant right?"

Fred sat up quickly and grabbed his head, letting out a stream of curses. A vial was pressed to his mouth and he drank it readily, knowing neither George or Hermione would give him anything bad. "Better?"

Hermione was looking down at him with a frown and he nodded his head, "Yeah much but anyways what I was going to say was, Brilliant! You had six completely different and hilarious mood swings!"

"How'd you do it Hermione?" He asked suddenly, gesturing her over and tugging her down next to him when she was near enough. "George come here, we need to all have a chat."

George climbed onto the bed leaning against the wall, grinning at him.

"That's a secret Fred."

"What? But we're going to be married! We have no secrets!" Fred cried and she looked at him in schock.

"Really, so you'll always tell me everything that's going on? No matter what?" Fred paused for a moment, his mind flashing to the plan.

"Yeah, of course I would!" And he would tell her, just not today, not when she's looking at him like that.

"Oh wow Fred, that's really sweet."

"Oh, well Fred's always been the sensitive one, cries during books and I can remember one time he asked out this one 5th year girl back in third ye-"

Fred chucked his pillow at George, "Okay, maybe we'll have some secrets but I doubt you want to hear about all my failed attempts at getting a girl."

"You couldn't get a girl?" Hermione sounded amazed and Fred wasn't sure if that was good or not. "But you both always had dozens of girls flipping their hair for your attention."

"Oh well, not every girl is going to like us-" George interrupted loudly with "Wait did you say dozens?"

"Well yeah, didn't you know?"They both shook their head, sure they knew a few girls liked them, thought their whole image of rebellion was great, but dozens? Besides they'd spent most of the years where girls became something they noticed, formulating new items and developing a plan.

"Well no, not really. I mean we assumed that quite a few girls had a bit of a crush on us but not dozens." George informed her, "Shame, could have gotten in more shagging at Hogwarts."

Hermione made a soft 'eep' and Fred laughed, "You didn't do any shagging at Hogwarts, George!"

"Yeah, but I could have if I'd known all these birds had been mad for us! And the best part is I could have pretended to be you and gotten even more of them."

"That's disgusting George, besides a few of those girls weren't exactly quality."

Fred turned his wide eyes of to Hermione, feeling a bit off-balanced by the bite in her voice, "Issues?"

"You could say that." Hermione said and gave him a tight smile.

Fred felt curious but realized Hermione wasn't about to just talk about it so he bit his tongue and asked the question he'd wanted to in the first place. "Hermione, dearest? Couldn't you please teach us that bit of magic, we do so want to have it for shop." He widened his eyes and clasped his hands together, trying to look earnest.

She laughed at him and shook her head, "No, because if I tell you, George will be ever so angry with me."

"Why after about a week I thought it was brilliant as well." George leaned forward looking eager.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Hermione bit her lip and sighed, the thing was she just KNEW George would get upset when he found out she'd made him experience a pseudo period, the only thing she hadn't included was the pain and of course the bleeding, mostly because she didn't think either would have been very funny and much too mean. After all, most blokes would go into shock if blood came out down there.

They were both looking at her though, their faces so eager for a new discovery and new invention to work on. People liked to say the twins were a destructive force but they got so much joy from creating that Hermione could never see it. Sure they were disruptive, all the time, even to each other.

She sighed and dropped her head back in exasperation. "Promise?"

"Yes!" The boys cried together and she laughed.

"I gave George all the emotional symptoms of an average girl experiencing her monthlies." She murmured and Fred began to roar with laughter while George looked like he was near having a fit.

"You promised George!" She cried and wrung her hands.

George grit his teeth, "Yes but monthlies Hermione? Really?" he whined and let his head smack back against the wall.

"Ye,s but I could have done it all you know! The blood and the cramps!" Fred and George both paled and gulped slightly, Fred's mouth clacking shut in the process.

"What really?" He rasped out.

"You could have-" George cut himself off and hugged his arms around himself, "Well thanks for that then, I guess."

Hermione laughed and laughed, they both looked so very scared of her now. "It's just an old spell I found, something the school used to do boys so that they could experience the plight of their female counterparts. More for their safety than anything else, I mean boys back then were even more clueless than boys now are. Teachers got sick of girls hexing the little blighters I guess."

"Did she just say blighter?" George whispered and Hermione smacked his foot.

"I do curse you know, you've both just haven't hung around me much before." Hermione informed him and Fred grinned.

"We'll just have to find out how many you know, we'll save that for another night though." He stated and started to ask her question about the spell and whether or not it had an application.

A/N: Evil no? haha. Remember to review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Fred Weasley was fretting, that was the only way he could describe what he was feeling. After Hermione had left the room earlier he had begun to worry about his promise that he'd tell her everything, but how do you tell a girl you tricked her into an engagement. Sure he was loads better than Malfoy, but really what did that mean in the long run? It didn't mean she'd be happy with him and it certainly didn't mean she'd love him. His chest clenched and he clutched at his jumper. It wasn't fair that he had to feel this way when she felt nothing at all, this was just an easy solution for her and from what she understood himself as well.

But could he really live this lie? This life where she didn't know he actually cared about her, that he pictured kissing her every day since he realized how he felt? That her laugh drove him wild and he tried his damndest to get her to laugh like that every day, even if it was at him? Of course he couldn't, but the question remained how he would tell her? When he would tell her? The sooner the better that was for certain.

HGHGHGHGHG

Sighing peacefully she tucked her feet under her on the couch, turning the page to her book. She'd been digging through all the books she had to see exactly why magic effected electrical devices the way it did. She was certain she could actually get electrical items to run off magical energy but she really wanted to find out what made electricity and magic such mortal enemies. She could even recall a few of the other muggle borns bringing in tape players that ran on batteries. Surprisingly though, there was no ill effect to the machines, the batteries even last months longer than they should have. Until one day a girl a year above her suffered severe chemical burns when the batteries in her Walkman exploded all over her as she sat studying in her four poster. Thankfully the curtains had been drawn so no one else was hit with any of the acid.

Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape had made quick work of her injuries though, a series of balms over two weeks. The girl had scars still, but they were faint and could easily be covered with muggle makeup if she'd wanted to. Soon though all the batteries had been confiscated and shoved into a metal box and taken away. They didn't know what happened after that but she could only assume they'd been disposed of. But what if maybe she created a magical battery? Something that ran off the wizard or witches on static magic? After all they used magic everyday and not all the magic they expended was focused into their spells, everyone had a small leak of magic that came off them and that was how she planned on making the batteries work.

It would take a lot of complicated arithmancy to figure it out though, she was sure of that. She thought maybe she'd ask Fred for help, it could something they could do together. Bonding with him and becoming closer before they married in the next seven weeks. The other problem they would have to address would be her inexperience. She wasn't sure if Fred was a virgin or not but she did know that he had more experience in relationships than she did. She bit her lip nervously as she contemplated her coming future. She was nervous and scared, the lack of Fred's presence was making her second guess everything. She shook her head and cleared her thoughts, no Fred was a good choice. A better choice than Malfoy for sure and probably even Ron. She could admit that she had felt something for her friend but in the three months since the war and their kiss the boy hadn't done anything to show he was interested in her and she'd dropped hints through letters and when they'd gotten the chances to chat in person. The worst though was the thought that he'd never really gotten her. Always harping on about things that she did, buying her the same gifts every year. It was troublesome and a little heartbreaking when she thought about it.

She was startled from her musings when she heard a loud thump, the door to Ginny's room rattled harshly. She stood and swept it open, eyes growing wide as she stared at Fred and George, standing their arms laden with boxes.

"Let's go, Love." Fred said, releasing a hand from the boxes, nearly dropping them before he steadied them with one arm, his hand wrapping around her wrist.

"But I was working on something!" Hermione cried as he pulled her along. "What's going on anyways?"

"Well with what happened on your birthday we never got to throw you a party." George replied with an easy grin as she turned to look at him as he spoke.

"So we're rectifying that tonight of course." Fred added, sounding eager and excited. The grin he flashed her was more sincere than any of the ones that she'd seen since the war.

"Sound's brilliant!" She felt a little giddy and her voice was breathless as she spoke. She hadn't had a proper birthday party in years. "Can we play games?"

Fred only nodded, the brilliant smile firm on his face. She really needed this night to relax. They reached the bottom floor of the Burrow, ushering her outside. Charlie and Bill were dueling with the tables again, like they seemed to do at every event the Weasely's held. Percy was lining the chairs up with Ginny, they laughed together as they made them dance whimsically into place. Harry hung streamers, purple and gold, her favorite colors. Ron was helping Molly polish the dinnerwear, looking a little grumpy yet but seeming to come out of his funk as his mother teased him. Arthur, Kingsley, Minerva, Hagrid were stacking more gifts for her onto a table to one side, doing it the muggle way as they talked. This environment felt lovely, everyone feeling so carefree was refreshing to her heavy heart. She knew they hadn't forgotten the war but pretending it never happened, even if only for a few moments was lovely.

Fred released her and placed down the boxes he held as he and George set to work setting up floating lanterns and fairy lights. She grinned and walked through the chaos, observing the interactions of people she'd come to love like family. All of them were special to her and she was grateful that while they had lost people, so many of them had still made it out of the war alive. She turned at a loud giggle, grinning as she say Teddy chase Victoire about the lawn, well as well as two one year olds could. Fleur and Andromeda smiling indulgently at the small children. She dashed over to the two of them, swooping them up into her arms and cuddling her godchildren close, ignoring the aches in her body.

"I've missed you both." She breathed and grinned as they hugged her, squealing and gurgling out 'Mine'.

"'Ermione!" Fleur called and hugged her after she placed the children down on the grass again, they toddled off to Andy. "It's so good to see you!"

It was good to see the French witch as well, they had become rather close during the war, especially during her stay at shell cottage, the blonde witch refusing to let anyone else near her prone form. She did admit that Andy still made her shiver at times, looking scarily like her sisters, but none of their darkness surrounded the older woman so it was easier to get over than she had thought it would be.

"Fleur, I've missed you!" Hermione murmured, squeezing the smaller witch tightly, "How have you three been getting on?"

"Very well, in fact in about 7 months we'll become four." She whispered to her, making Hermione squeal rather girlishly in excitement, jumping with her friend as the blonde woman laughed in delight. "Shhhh, Beell doesn't know yet."

Hermione was touched that Fleur would share this news with her first, "I'm sure he'll be pleased. If it wasn't so important I'd demand to tell him, just to see the look on his face." She laughed softly, making the Veela girl giggle.

"It was rather funny to see hees look when I told 'im about Victoire," Fleur admitted with a grin. They made their way back to Andromeda and she sat contentedly as they chatted about the children.

FWFWFWFWFWFWFW

Fred decided that he'd tell Hermione about the plan tonight, he knew he risked upsetting her after she was suppose to be having the time of her life, but he had a plan and he hoped it'd work.

He and George finished up the lights for the party before the meandered over to Harry who was curling streamers in the air and suspending them. "Want some help?" He asked, grinning at their younger friend.

"Love it actually." Harry replied as he began to twist another streamer up. As he helped Harry he snuck glances at Hermione, chatting happily with Fleur and Andromeda. He smiled softly at her, knowing she wouldn't see it anyways.


End file.
